Barking Mad

I recently completed another tea cosy. This one I made for my best friend's birthday, but I was about a month late. Nevermind.....she still hasn't given me my birthday present and my birthday was in May.



This tea cosy doesn't have holes for the handle and sprout, but just covers the entire tea pot. I struggled a bit with the lining and wadding, but I think I got there in the end.

I'm in the middle of making another tea cosy, which I hope will be finished quite soon. I really want to try and make something different, but I still have a few people who might appreciate a cosy so perhaps I will persevere. I'm just waiting to be invited round to tea now..............

Intarsia

Well it's been a wee while since I posted anything, but I have still been knitting (though not a lot). I've made a few birthday presents for people and didn't want to post photos till after their birthdays. Below are photos of my first attempt at intarsia. It's a bit messy at the back, but the front turned out ok. I made this for my Mum as a birthday present for her other tea pot.







The tea cosys that I have made so far have been really quick to make (and mostly easy - the above one was the hardest as I had to count). I may make a few more before looking for something different to make........

Tea Cosys and Crocheting

Well it took me a few months, but I eventually picked up my needles again. I thought about making my sister something for her birthday, but I left it too late. Instead, with just 2 weeks to go, I decided to knit a tea cosy for Mother's day. In typical fashion I merely glanced at the pattern before beginning and had finished the main body of the cosy before realising that the head of the sunflower needed to be crocheted. Ah.

Having never crocheted before, but desperately wanting to finish it I got on the internet and navigated to youtube. There is a wealth of videos on knitting and crocheting on there! Unfortunately I was still a bit confused, but was lucky enough to find a colleague who can crochet. The lovely woman spent a lunch break with me trying to explain double crocheting.
Due to other commitments and the fact that sewing bits together isn't my favourite part I finished the cosy just a few hours before I was due to meet my mum. She loved it.



While knitting/crocheting the tea cosy I also started on my first pink scarf for Jenny Chant . It's just a single rib scarf in pale pink so it's rather quick and easy to do. I'm already onto my second ball of wool and I'm approximately half way there.

I'd like to knit something for my niece's 1st birthday which is at the end of May, but I haven't come up with any ideas yet. After that I'm definitely going to make more tea cosys. Guess what my family are getting for Christmas this year.......

Christmas Jimi

I finished Jimi Hendrix with time to spare. I'm not too sure how impressed my Dad was, but at least he knew who it was supposed to be!



Unsurprisingly I received quite a few knitting related gifts for Christmas....my sister gave me a knitting needle case with needles from Cath Kidson and I also got a couple of knitting kits - pattern, wool and needles. One is a scarf and one is a cushion. My Mum gave me a book of tea cosy knitting patterns - possibly a hint!
I'm planning on knitting a pink scarf to help Jenny Chant's mission to knit the world's longest scarf - see Link section - so as usual I'm spoilt for choice!

Fat Audrey

I finally finished the doll a couple of weeks ago after procrastinating for ages and knitting a hat as well. Personally I think she looks rather chubby and a bit too oriental to be Audrey, but she is now wrapped and under the Christmas tree waiting for my sister. I did't understand the instructions for the tiara and necklace, so I improvised slightly.

I did ask some friends who they thought it was supposed to be and they came up with Angelina Jolie.............

I had a bit of a break from Audrey and made my other sister a hat. It's rather dull (visually) and is mistake rid stitch so very quick and easy to do. Hopefully she'll be happy as I found out she wanted a hat. I just hope she meant something like this!

I've started on another doll as a Christmas present. I realise that I'm running low on time and I should be frantically knitting instead of posting on here. So far I have the doll and a shirt. I need to add some hair and facial features and then quickly magic up a pair of trousers. Which is what I'm off to do now. Merry Christmas!

Progress...

Well I finished the doll itself, quite quickly, but the outfit is taking me a while. I always struggle with the stuffing – this is an Audrey Hepburn doll, but her arms wouldn’t be out of place on the World’s Strongest Man Competition. I’m not too sure what I can do apart from rip her arms off, so I’ve left them for now. I have the pieces of the dress to cut out which I intend to do this weekend, but I’m putting it off slightly as the mouth fell to pieces when I tried to sew it onto the doll, so I’m worried what might happen to the dress. I’m also a bit confused about how the hair fits together (you knit two separate bits), then gets attached to the head. The pattern doesn’t give very good directions, in fact, it gives none whatsoever! If this is even a vague success then I’m going to try and make another one for some other poor unsuspecting family member…..

Out of Practice

I haven't been doing much knitting recently - hence the lack of posts. I ran in to problems with the baby cardigan....I couldn't understand the pattern and I didn't have enough wool. Quite significant problems if you are trying to knit something! My niece has been growing so much that I no longer think the cardigan will fit and I might have to give up on that and make her something else. Because I was stuck and due to other things needing my attention I've not had chance to even start another project.
I spoke to my gran the other night who has been trying to give me some help with the cardigan, and I now feel inspired to pick up my needles again. I've just started on a doll from the 'Knitted Icons' book I was given for my birthday, which I'm hoping to give to someone as a Christmas present. This project involves some sewing though and I'm a little out of practice there as well. I've also got a huge list of things that I want to make for Christmas so I ought to get cracking.....